Myths about gambling

Posted
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 1:00 pm

To the Editor:

Governor Lincoln Chafee was among the politicians helping to kick off table gambling at Twin River recently. This is a man whose freethinking is only matched by his ineptitude. He and others sent a message to the people of Rhode Island stating that gambling is good. Gambling will net the state of Rhode Island $6.5 million annually and create 400 new employment opportunities.

Do any of us truly believe this inane rhetoric? Is this truly the way to balance the state’s budget and increase employment? Do any of us believe that the alleged $6.5 million is not going to be pilfered and squandered by these politicians who have only their families’ best interests in mind?

I know a little about gambling and what it does to families and good individuals who are destroyed by this practice. If our illustrious governor and his band of merry men truly wanted to help the state to flourish, they would not be putting into play a system that destroys people; they would put their collective heads together and try to come up with a plan that is win-win for the people. The people who pay them to protect us not to destroy us. The people who keep them in power.